I�m re-reading the entire �Jack Ryan� series from Tom Clancy in the order of the story rather than in the order of when they were written. It�s kinda cool reading them in story order, Clancy is remarkably consistent throughout the series even though some books were written a decade or more out of sequence.

My second favorite is the Bob Lee & Earl Swagger series books from Stephen Hunter.

So what�s your favorite?

The Baldacci books with Alex Stone as the lead character.

The most enjoyable, (and free) series I've read is H rider Haggards Allan Quartermain books. They're all free on Project Gutenberg. I think I've read almost all of his books.

Gotta love the Swagger family. I like Jack Ryan as well.

I've always enjoyed Louis L'Amour's Sackett series.

I'm working my way through the LOTR series right now, and I'm really liking it too.

The Quartermain books are a little out there, but yeah, they're good adventures...and I think most would live to share a single malt with Quartermain.

Lord of the Rings is one of the greatest stories ever written, but his writing style just doesn�t grab me. I really had to force my way through those books. I�m that way with most British authors�I guess I�m just an un-civilized heathen. The one exception is an Irishman, Patrick O�Brian� and the Aubrey/Maturin series; those are great.

The Patrick O'Brian Aubrey-Maturin English naval adventure series is very good. The Wilbur Smith saga of the Courtney family series is excellent and the Preston and Child written Pendergast detective series is excellent. It's hard to say which one is the favorite. I've kept all and plan to reread then again. The Courtney saga was read chronologically and added to the understanding and enjoyment a lot.

A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin

The Longmire's were a good read.

I Like the Joe Pickett series by C J Box.

Me too. Those are some excellent adventure novels there. I love the stories of African adventures and will read a book or watch a movie if it is an adventure set there. Even bad ones. Watched "The Lost Patrol" a couple weeks ago and loved it.

My favorite book series has to be either the Oregon Files or Dirk Pitt series from Clive Cussler. Rereading Valhalla Rising right now and really enjoying it.

Will

Swagger fan here also, expecially the early books Hot Springs, Pale Horse Coming, Time to Hunt etc. Mountain man series from W. Johnstone is pretty good also - kind of like L'Amours' books.

been reading the game of thrones series

i like all of the rogue warrior series of books.
Of course i love the Louis Lamour westerns.

Vince Flynn - Term Limits.

If you guys like Louis L'Amour y'all need to real Elmer Keltons books. The guy is unreal! From Dewey Callaway to Rusty Shannon and badgerboy. His westerns are amazing! I would start with the books about the Texas rangers

Dark Tower series by Stephen King.

I've read about every Louis book probably 5 or so times - I've read about every Elmer book about twice -

I could not agree more - "The Time it didn't Rain" is a classic - Great book.

I enjoyed the show when it was on (I'm hopeful it'll be back on soon) and I'd like to find the books. I'm betting they might be better than the show.


Probably my favorite book series would be Horatio Hornblower by C.S. Forester, though I really enjoy reading Wodehouse's Wooster and Jeeves stories, too.

Dies The Fire and the books that follow. By S.M. Stirling.

+1 on Elmer Kelton's stuff. I've not read it, but I did listen to some of his stories on book radio. Hewey Callaway would have to be my favorite of his characters that I'm aware of to date.

Louis L'Amour's The Sacketts

Wow, I can't believe how many titles that I considered non-mainstream that are coming up in this thread. Dies the Fire is a pretty good read, but I admit that I struggled with parts of it. Particularly how the hardships in the aftermath affected the children and the parents who loved them.

Haven't read any of the titles that follow Dies the Fire yet.

Right now I have been reading a lot of Robert Parker, very easy read.
Before that I was reading Louis L'Amour, always love a good western.

Some good ones so far. LOTR and The Dark Tower are two of my favorites.

The "Old Man's War" books by John Scalzi are also an interesting read.

W.E.B. griffin series "The Corps", Ive reread the books twice now. Earlier Tom Clancy books "Hunt for Red October" is one of my all time favorites.

I have read the James Fenimore Cooper "Leatherstocking" series. Its been quite some time now and I should probably read them again.

H.P.Lovecraft-ALL,R.E.Howard-all.

Aaaah, Lovecraft.

It�s Edgar Allen Poe meets The Twilight Zone. No one could write prose like Lovecraft, that guy was a magnificent writer with few peers. I have his complete fiction works. All are short stories, and all are written with such poetic elegance that you just have to marvel at the guys gift for prose.

The Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath would make a kick-ass three part movie series with todays special effects.

"The Thing" movies were all inspired by At the Mountains of Madness. Somewhere out there, there�s a silent movie of Call of Cthluhlu. I watched part of it a few years ago; it wasn�t bad. Kept to the story very well.

James Doss, Tony Hillerman, Steve Berry, David and Aimee Thurlo, Wilbur Smith, Clive Cussler, Baldacci, The early Tom Clancy bt the modern Clancy stuff is not so good, John Grisham, and James Lee Burk are some of my favorites. I got rid of mt TV around fifteen years ago and read a lot. I get better choices and no commercials.

This trip down to work the Ritchie Brothers auction I brought two Steve Berry, two James Doss and one Tony Hillerman. I will finish the second James Doss today and start the Tony Hillerman. Gad we go home on Sunday so I can go back to the library Monday.

My favorite series has always been the robot novels by Isaac Asimov. From "I Robot" through the end of the Foundation series runs about 15 books but they are an easy and fascinating story.

With just a couple of exceptions I have read all of those listed. I read the Sacketts so much as a kid I just cannot get interest in any western books these days, but would love to write one. Anybody heard of Gotrek and Felix? My nephew then 14 left one of their books laying around and I read it for kicks, got hooked. I have read all the omnibuses out to date.

Stephen Hunter; Michael Connelly; Early John Grisham and Tom Clancy, before they turned into cookie-cutter formula books...

Tony Hillerman's Leaphorn/Chee mysteries, Robert B. Parker's Spenser mysteries, Larry McMurtry's Last Picture Show/Duane Moore series and Michael McGarrity's Kevin Kerney mysteries. Really like McGarrity's descriptions of real police work...

Hornblower was a great read.

I picked up a big hardcover with all the Hornblower stories in it at a used book sale about 15 years ago and have read it about 3 times and was just thinking a couple days ago that it's about time to read it again.

It's also been made into a series of videos by AMC, I believe. I've got those, too.

George M. Fraser's "Flashman" series is my all-time favorite. Brilliant writing, full of flash and dash and a bit of sass, but all based on meticulous historically accurate reporting of the events of one of the most interesting periods in human history: the British Empire during the Victorian age.

John Sandford's "Prey" series. Well-written, gritty fiction, set in the Upper Midwest. Timely, politically savvy, and very accurate with medical, firearms, and police protocol details. They're a quick read, get them at the public library.

LOTR is reat, of course.

I like all of the Clive Cussler and Louis L'Amour books when I was younger. Although not really a 'series' writer, all of Alistair McClean's books were excellent reads, many of which became movies of notoriety.
I find myself reading much more non-fiction these days, likely because I'm older and have forgotten where I put my reading glasses on a daily basis.....

Anything by Clive Cussler

If you got time to read, I got a paint brush, rake, rag, chainsaw or shovel that
will fit your hand.



Arbeit macht frei


- so says mrs slumlord

No question about this one; the finest modern prose in the English language (IMHO) is the Aubrey/Maturin series of books by Patrick O'Brian. The uncompleted series runs for 20 books (O'Brian died part way through the 20th.) Excerpts of the series were assembled for the movie Master and Commander, which is also the title of the first book in the series.

I read the whole series once a year, and am doing so now. Even after several complete readings, I still find gems of prose that I missed before. Gems of vocabulary, too -- you almost need a good dictionary beside you as you read O'Brian. An example from yesterday: "He isn't a gremial friend..." Thoroughly delightful.

In the catagory or millitary fiction, or perhaps millitary science fiction, the " Orphanage " series by Robert Buettner was really good, and I am also enjoying the " Confederation of Valor " series by Tanya Huff.

I'd help you, but I have to be home in time to cook dinner for my wife, and the house has to be spic and span.

My favorite fiction is reading what the libs on here write as to how their compatriots are not going to try to take our guns away.

I've bought every book Clive Cussler has written. I pick a day when no one is around to bother me and I read them start to finish with minimal bathroom breaks. The man can weave a story.

Any of Heinlein's novels after he started targeting an adult audience.
But especially those featuring Lazerous Long and his progeny.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazarus_Long

I identify strongly with the ethics and morals expressed in Heinlein's work. He focuses strongly on the benefits of self sufficiency and the evils of the overgrown state. I think he is the most anti-statist of popular authors of fiction.

More recently I have enjoyed the "Sword of Truth" series by Terry Goodkind, and the very similar "Wheel of Time" series by Robert Jordon.

The Spanish Bit Saga series by Dr. Don Coldsmith, as well as any of his other books that I've read so far. Dr. Don Coldsmith

I might have to look into these books. I listened to Goodkind's "Law of Nines" on book radio and really enjoyed it.

The Ashes series by William W Johnstone is one of my favorites. I think I have read about every Louis Lamour book twice.

Keep 'em coming, guys. I'm making a shopping list for my next library or book store visit.

Anything by Louis L'Amour

The Tony Hillerman series about the Navajo Police, W.E.B. Griffins Brotherhood of War series, Sandfords Prey novels and the Jack Ryan books by Clancy. I also liked the Elmer Kelton westerns as well as Louis L'Amore, especially the Sacketts.

I am now reading the stuff by Randy Wayne White about Doc Ford, he is a local writer from Sanibel Island and does real justice to the FL west coast.

Have read most of the Flynn novels as well as Brad Thor, then there are the Clive Cussler different series. Have read all of Stephen Hunters books starting with The Master Sniper. Pale Horse Coming remains my favorite by him.

Then there are the James Claval novels of Japan and the Mitchner books.

DAMM I LOVE TO READ!

I cant believe nobody has mentioned the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child.

also on my list are Louis Lamour and Stephen Hunter

I'll second the Flashman books, by George McDonald Fraser, and add ...

The "Draka" novels, by S.M. Sterling. A WHOLE different thing compared to his "Dies The Fire" novels.

I saw the movie No Country for Old Men and enjoyed it so much I decided to read the book by Cormac McCarthy. I got into it but couldn't finish it, the writing just didn't attract me. Supposedly his other books are also good but I could never convince myself to try them. I don't know if the screen adaptation of No Country for Old Men was true to the book or if the screen writing improved on the book.

Two other of his books have also been or are going to be made into movies. Depending on what the story lines are I may try the movies when they come out.

Many of my favourite series have been mentioned here by other posters.

Jim

That's what I love about the O'Brian books, you really do need a dictionary and perhaps some other reference books handy to read them. Surely you can read the story without the reference, but its just nice to know what all the "things" are. Whether it be deeply technical nautical references, or period correct medical terms and procedures, or just a period correct turn of phrase. The historical accuracy of his books just turns his books into a time machine and places you center stage during the early 19th century. I�m constantly referring to other books so I fully understand every detail. There�s a companion books that a gentleman wrote called �A Sea of Words� that is really cool and very helpful: http://www.amazon.com/Sea-Words-Third-Companion-Seafaring/dp/0805066152 It has really helped with the reading of O�Brian�s books. That series is just first rate beyond description�read it and it�s clear that some people are just operating on a much higher level than the rest of us.

Out of the silent planet series by C.S. Lewis. By far my most favorite series ever. And the second book in the series is my favorite book of all time. It is science fiction but man is it good.

God Bless,

MM

Mysteries - Dick Francis
Historical fiction - Bernard Cornwell
Science fiction/fantasy - Terry Brooks

Over the years I have read all of the Clancy books, all of the Steven Hunter Swagger books, all of the Lee Child Reacher books,Most of the WEB Griffin series except the police series. I just finished a three book Nathan McBride series by Andrew Peterson which wasn't to bad. Currently reading Steven Hunter's most recent book, "the Third Bullet", and to be honest it's dragging a bit.

I have just finished the Reacher books form Lee Child. I have read most of the others you guys listed. W.E.B Griffin was pretty addictive. I have read all of Louis' books of course multiple times. I have the whole series in the leather bound that I collected off of EBay a few years ago. Sacketts are great but I like "The Walking Drum" the best.

I liked and own most of Clancy's but the later ones drag for me as previously mentioned.

I have non fiction recommendations. I just read the latest from Marcus Lutrell (Service). If you guys haven't read Lone Survivor it is like a Fiction book in intensity and it isn't.

Richard

We have very similar taste. Looks like I need to try Swagger.

John Sanford"s Prey series. I have read many of the authors already mentioned and he is still my favorite.

I found the O'Brian series very frustrating. He leads you up to the battle scenes and doesn't do an adequate job of describing what happens. Try the Hornblower series and Dewy Lambdin's books if you want great naval books.

Dewey Lambdin is no slouch. My arse on a bandbox.

Gordon R Dickson's Dorsai series. Agatha Christie's books. Miss Marple is my favorite.

this

Anything put out by the US government followed closely by anything the mainstream media says.

I like James Rollins books. I also enjoy Dean Koontz.

Yes! I'd forgotten those books... tremendous reads!!

For what it's worth, the Narnia books are favorites of mine as well. As Lewis said himself, if you want to get an important idea across, and you can do it in a format that even children can understand and want to read, you've pretty much nailed it. Or words to that effect.

Conan the Barbarian

Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind are excellent. They are based on Ayn Rand/Libertarian philosophy.

The Archers Tales, The Saxon Chronicles and the Sharpe's Rifles series by Bernard Cornwell are very good historical novels.

Wilbur Smith's various series are a must for Africa buffs.

The original James Bond Books by Ian Fleming and the Matt Helm books by Donald Hamilton are artful examples of thriller fiction. Don't sell the books short because of the cheesy Hollywood movies. Okay, some of the Bond movies were good.

The Walt Longmire novels by Craig Johnson are quite good as well.

Dies the Fire series by SM Stirling I find riviting. His Draka novels just depressed the crap out of me (Too much like real life).

All of Griffin's books, L'amour, in my youth, Clancy's, Robert Ludlum had some good ones, Nelson Demille, lots of good stuff out there if you have time to read 'em. Zane Grey, too. Never could get into Luke Short much, but even he had some good ones. Clair Huffaker wasn't too bad, either.

The entire Conan series by Robert E. Howard. Many stories were unfinished and then completed by other writers (whose names escape me at the moment) but the true Howard stories really captured Conan.

The original James Bond novels by Ian Fleming.

Anything by Heinlein. Ray Bradbury is good, too, but a bit hard to follow at times.

Asimov's Foundation series is good.

Do NOT wade into the Ghormanghast novels by Mervyn Peake. That man has the greatest command of English for describing things in minute detail, his description of a face can take a paragraph and is brilliance in print. He is also the most boring, longest winded and obtuse story teller I ever read. It was painful to read that monstrous tome.

Not a series, but "Lolita" by Nabokov is what I call "Real Literature".

The "Spiderman" series by Stan Lee - just seeing if anyone is still reading this...

Have read many of those already listed, Claval, Mitchner, Clancy, Grisham, King. Often we see a movie we like but never read the book. I would reccomend Lonesome Dove, No Country for Old Men (lean on conversations), True Grit (it is not the John Wayne movie, Maddie has the grit). Last if you have never read One Flew Over the CooCoo's Nest you should. Told from a different view point than the movie it is the same story yet shockingly different.

Anything by Steven King.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the Stephen Hunter group of books. I think I have read them all and enjoy the fact that Hunter researches the firearms that Swagger and others use and accurately depicts reloading and shooting right down to the bullet, the powder used and what happens on the terminal end.

I also like the fact that most of his writing is taking place within the framework of my lifetime and memory. Every book so far touches a cord within that memory and I like that. I am just a couple of years older than his main character, so some of his "experiences" are also mine. Just not as exciting.

I tried reading it. Like other writings by Nabakov, but I just could not get past the subject matter on this one.

Not much to add, as all the authors/series mentioned above, that I've read, were indeed all worth reading. Flashman did immediately pop into mind as one that not so many might have been exposed to, but I see I'm not alone.

If you do enjoy Science Fiction (as opposed to Fantasy), then one author/series not mentioned so far is David Brin's Uplift works. The first trilogy is just great Space Opera. The second trilogy gets out there, even for SciFi. David Brin is also the author of "The Postman", which eventually was turned into a not particularly well done movie.

Scott

Elmore Leonard....a great writer.....Arthur Conan Doyle, got a hardcover of the complete works of, including the novels...harkens back to the day in England when gentlemen dropped a revolver in their pocket when going into questionable situations.....hope you will all read my book when I finish it...if you're still alive

Douglas Adams' four of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Mary Stewart's Merlin series of four book. She understood: "A slave is not trained to arms like a free man's son". (The Hollow Hills)

--Bob

#1 - Harry Potter
#2 - Chronicles of Narnia
(Both are excellent adult fiction masquerading as childrens' literature)
#3 - LOTR

And I'd add Cryptonomicon, too. It's not a series, but it's so flippin' long all by itself that it oughta count. There's nothing else like it in the world.

And I don't count Sherlock Holmes as a series either, but it's a hoot to read as long as you do so kinda light-heartedly.

+1 Just read it again a couple of weeks ago.

James Lee Burke, Robert B. Parker...any of their character series. McMurtry's Lonesolme Dove related books, Cormac McCarthy's border trilogy.

Frank Herbert = Dune

+1 I've got all of his books. All the the Louis La'Mour books too.

Several of my favorites mentioned. I've been a die hard Clancy fan since reading Red Storm Rising as a kid. Vince Flynn is good too. I wind up listening more than reading lately. Here's some others:

Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe's Rifles and all the other Sharpe's books. I really like most of Cornwell's stuff.

Dean Koontz has many good ones. A few duds, but mostly good.

Clive Cussler is a bit hoaky, but they're usually a good read. I find his new Isaac Bell series better than a lot of his old stuff. His are clean enough we can listen to the audiobooks on road trips with the kids, they enjoy them too.

I enjoyed W.E.B Griffin's Officer series, The Lieutenants, The Captains, etc. But I really didn't much care for any of his others outside of that series. Lots of dialogue and posturing but not much action.

sd

I like the Matthew Scudder books by Lawrence Block. A lot. There are a few of Block's books that are so weird they are not worth reading for free much less paying money for them.

Must add the Harry Bosch novels by Michael Connelly. First rate detective novels.

Harlan Coben - Myron Bolitar series. Good reads, doesn't stray off to much and has some comedy in it. "Ugly as a monkeys armpit" line made me laugh out loud. I'll look up some of the authors others have mentioned.

Re: Clancy

As a kid, teen, and young buck I used to really, really like his original books - the ones that started with The Hunt For Red October, then (outside of the Clancy universe) Red Storm Rising, then Patriot Games, etc. Still have 'em all, up to about The Bear and The Dragon, or thereabouts.

At about that point, something went weird. I dunno if he got tired of doing them, or had a spat with his publisher, or what. I even heard it was divorce-related. But about then it seemed like he started mailing it it. As in, you'd be reading something and were suddenly struck with "didn't I just read this 100 pages ago?". It was like he didn't clear his "snippet file" as he went through the outline, or like NOBODY edited it. So I lost interest hard. Never did read the paperback stuff.

Oh my, How could I have forgotten Frank Herbert.

Dune, it has been thirty five years since I read it, and yet it is one one the most memorable stories I have ever read.

Some quotes are immortal:
�I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.�
― Frank Herbert, Dune

The subsequent five volumes pale by comparison, but are still quite good. I have not read and can not speak for all the related tomes authored by Frank's son Brian.

"White Plague" by Frank Herbert also stands out in my memory, but it is not among the several series he wrote.



Oh yes, another author who's books are impossible to put down once the spine is cracked. I read these in the order as they are listed, except for the last, which I have not read. They certainly paint an interesting image of the Asian mindset and society.

Asian Saga
1. Shogun (1975)
2. Tai Pan (1966)
3. Gai-jin (1993)
4. King Rat (1962)
5. Noble House (1981)
6. Whirlwind (1986)


And what? We no longer have any fans of the immortal Zane Grey. Talk about painting an image with words. He was the master.

I'm partial to the Rogue Warrior series by Dick Marcinko, the founder of Seal Team Six.

That was about the time he started making a frikken fortune on the video games. It seemed as though his books simply became a vehicle to promote the related video games. It seems as though his newer books are targeting a semi-literate audience.

The Vince Flynn, Mitch Rapp series recently; James Fenimore Cooper's Leather Stocking Tales, The Sacketts series, though not really a series, most of James A. Michener's books.

MM

As a young nerd science fiction was my main read.

Wandering off track as most threads do, I tried reading some science fiction or fantasy a few years ago and it was pathetic. Juvenile and hackneyed, it read more like a bad soap opera than the speculative fiction of earlier decades. One dimensional characters were the norm.

Seems like now that we've been to the moon and can't afford to go back, science fiction relies on three story lines and only three - Star Trek, Star Wars and a huge Sword and Sorcery genre. Now include vampires for the kids and that's it.

I understand some of the S&S can be pretty good, apparently Game of Thrones is a good line, but I'm just not into dragons and witchcraft and such.

Maybe a lot of it was bad sci-fi back then but I didn't realize - there were a lot of space operas with "flickering purple beams burning holes in men and metal alike..." and now I've just grown up and recognize bad as bad. But if not, please someone tell me there is a ray of light in there and I've just missed it.

I read a lot of Hunting/Africa/Rifle Books. This is about 1/2 my collection

Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

Anything by Robert Ruark or Jim Corbett.

I like to read the Swagger series from Stephen Hunter.

I like the Saxon series by Bernard Cornwell. The grail series by him is proving good also.

James Rollins sigma force series is good also.

Lovecraft is the only author who creeped the heck out of me.

I had forgotten those books much less that I had read them, well 1, 2, 4 & 5 anyway.

Have you read The General books by Stiriling and David Drake? Great reads.

Those were great up till Chapterhouse Dune, you can almost tell which chapter his son took over after his death.

Louis L'Amour's "Last of the Breed" was probably the best fiction adventure novel I have read. There was supposed to be a second novel in the series, but he died before writing it.

An interesting Asian novel was "Musashi". It was long, but I was sad when I finished it.

Edited to add:

Mushashi may be a historical novel. An Amazon Review:

The Tale of Old Japan's Most Famous Swordsman, May 14, 2000
By Stuart W. Mirsky "swm" This review is from: Musashi (Hardcover)
Written in the early twentieth century, this indigenous Japanese novel recounts the life and times of old Japan's greatest swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi -- a man who began life as an over-eager and rather brutish young lout but who, through the discipline of Japan's "way of the sword," turned himself into a master of his chosen weapon. But this tale is not only about a life spent in training to perfect the art of killing with a sharpened piece of steel. In the venerable Japanese tradition, it is also about a man's search to conquer himself, to become a better person. The Buddhist view cultivated by the Japanese warrior class allowed for a spiritual dimension to their very bloody enterprise of warfare and killing. And it is this aspect of his training that consumes Musashi, to the detriment of the people he encounters and who seek to attach themselves to him. Unable to settle down in the ordinary way, or to simply join a particular clan as a retainer to some noble lord, Musashi embarks on the life of a ronin (masterless samurai) as he wends his way through the feudal world of medieval Japan in his seemingly endless search for perfection. In the process he finds a young woman who loves him and many enemies who seek his destruction, at least in part in repayment for the damage he does them while on his quest. He also crosses swords with many other experts in Japan's martial arts, but it is his early encounter with a Buddhist priest that puts him on the path which will forever after guide his life. Musashi ultimately finds his grail in a duel to the death with a man called Kojiro, who will become his greatest opponent, a sword master famous for his "swallow cut" -- a stroke so fast and deadly that it can slice a swooping, looping bird out of the air in mid-flight. This alone is a challenge worthy of the master which Musashi has become -- and a match which even he may not be up to, for this opponent is surely the finest technician in his art in all Japan. But there is more to swordsmanship than technical skill, as Musashi has learned, and there is more to living one's life than merely preserving it. Musashi attains a sort of peace in preparation for his climactic bout, for he is willing to risk all and even die in order to win against the master of the swallow cut, while applying all the strategy he has learned throughout his tumultuous career to unsettle the man who will oppose him. In the end Musashi became a legend to his countrymen, composing the famous Book of Five Rings -- his contribution to the art of strategy. But what he and Kojiro must do when they finally face each other is a tale in itself -- and a denoument towards which everything else in this book ultimately leads.

Asterix the Gaul is my favorite series.

If you like Tony Hillerman, and I do, you will like Arthur Upfield's books about half aborginal detective Napoleon Bonaparte (Boney) who is an Australian version of Jim Chee. I've read three of the series, likely picked for Americans. The only title I recall is the Black Virgin.

Two of my favs, particularly O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series.

Expat

Northworld by David Drake

I don't read a lot of fiction, but there are two authors I've enjoyed reading.

First is Bartle Bull who wrote two series of books, one of which was about a PH: A Cafe on the Nile, China Star, The White Rhino Hotel, Shanghai Station, The Devil's Oasis.

The other is George McDonald Fraser. He wrote a series about Harry Flashman, a British officer in the colonial period. Lots of humor, sex, and poking fun of the british during a lot of historical events of the time.

I started with Robert Ludlum back in the late 70s with the Materese Circle, then the Bourne Identity and then all of his books including two done by ghost writers after he died.

Lately I'm all into the Game of Thrones books.

But I've read all of Clancy's books and most of King's books. I've also read just about all of the Patricia Cornwell books that I know of.

These Game of Throne books are fairly enthralling.

Some of the crazier series I read as a younger man were the, well, they were Science Fiction, but good, all of them.

Anything from Pat McManus.

Tony Hillerman, Dick Francis, John D. McDonald (Travis McGee) and Lawrence Block plus a lot of fantasy. Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time has just been finished up by Brandson Sanderson after the death of Jordan. This series of 14 books was 11,000 pages or so long, written over 23 years.

Since this is a thread about fiction series, I'm surprised no one has mentioned The Congressional Record.

It was a sad day when he passed.

Jim, in the early days, science fiction was written by men who were actually ... you know ... scientists.

Now a lot of it (most of it, really) is written by all those kids who grew up reading it, but instead of becoming scientists, they became science fiction writers.

Wendell Berry's Port Williams series is pure genius. He has built the community & it's history from post-reconstruction to present day.

In he deals heavily with what it means to be in community w/ one another and our place, and illustrates many of the unfortunate side effects of the modern & post-modern culture of disconnectedness.

The man loves life, the creation, marriage, and other conservative institutions and beautifully illiterates how deeply counter-cultural it is to be devoted to them.

So, I could become a best selling science fiction writer?

The best science fiction (since Jules Vern) has little to do with science and much to do with sociology.

If we give a society this imaginary device, or imaginary technology, what will that society become?

I like J.W. Hall's books about south Florida... "Mean High Tide", and etc.

In Fantasy fiction Tolkien has long been the hallmark, but i do believe that Steven Lawhead might just be better.
The Albion Trilogy, and The Pendragon Cycle were terrific.
His stand alone work "Avalon" is a favorite...

I like Kyle Mill's stuff... Very readable books about a fictional FBI agent and his cases. he also has a couple of other books that are very good...

I have read several of the Doc Ford books by Randy W. White. Well written and readable, but Ford's clandestine service background is a bit far-fetched...

Likewise with C.J. Box, and the Joe Pickett books... very readable but Pickett's ex-army buddy's story just doesn't hold water at all... The books would be better without that crap...

with vince flynn and lee child, you're better off watching game shows on TV...

I read all of the Louis Lamour books in jr high and high school. Last of the Breed as mentioned was one of his best. Also mentioned the CJ Box books. I plan on starting Longmire soon. I am up to the fourth book in the Game of Throne series. They are very good but tend to get a bit wordy to get the book up to almost 1000 pages a piece.

I don't know if anyone mention Michael Crieghton. I enjoyed his books as well. It was too bad he passed away good writer and I think leaning conservative. One of his last books was a fiction book based on the global warming farce. He actually started researching global warming to write the book and found it not believable and based the book on his research with a fictional plot.

Another guy I want to start reading just to support a conservative is Andrew Klavan. He is on PJ TV or pajamas media. Klavan on the Culture. He has written many books including a young adult series. Clint Eastwood made one of his books "True Crime" in to a movie. He had a couple other books made into movies as well.

A big fan of Crieghton.

James Lee Burke novels featuring Detective Robicheaux
Wilber Smith easy read but entertaining


Alan Furst wrote a number of WWII spy novels that are very good

Martin Cruz Smith Arkady Renko Detective stories excellent!

Best books:

1) Lonesome Dove
2) Lord of the Rings

David Drakes Hammers Slammers books are fun reads. Line of sight tank fire, into orbit.

Didn't read this whole thread but we listen to Stuart Woods/Stone Barrington series and Clive Cussler and the various series he puts out on audiobook format.

Also:
James Clavell (John Lee is excellent on reading audiobooks)
David Baldacci
Nelson DeMille
Nevada Barr
John Nichols trilogy
Patricia Cornwell
John Grisham
Tim Robbins
W.E.B. Griffin
Dale Brown
Michael Connelly
John Sanford
James Patterson
Jonathan Kellerman
Sue Grafton
Robert Parker
Dean Koontz
Robert Ludlum (previously mentioned)
Ton Clancy (previously mentioned)

And for those that have never read it or listened to it (easier on old eyes and fantastic for LONG road trips/Power Driving, we only do unabridged audiobooks) John Kennedy Toole: A Confederacy of Dunces) I realize that a lot of bookworms have read this but for those that have not, give it a try, it is nearly panty pissing funny humor. I usually keep 2 or 3 copies of this on hand and give them as gifts to folks that like to read and like to laugh.

Br e safe and give the gift of reading.
Patty

I would have to say Sherlock Holmes.

Nobody has mentioned the author David Stone.
His main character Micha Dalton is one of the best CIA characters I've ever read.
I devoured every book Mr.Stone put out(4 books),and I'm kinda pissed he don't write faster.
Read them in order. And you'll enjoy them alot better.

Agreed. Simply the best military science fiction of all time. Anything by Gordon R. Dickson will usually not get put down until it's done.

The "Silmarillian" by Tolkien was excellent. Harry Turtledove's "Missplaced Legion" was good. An early subject for him but better than later works.

Grew up with ER Burroughs and liked his "Carson of Venus" and "John Carter" series the best.

Read almost any historical fiction I can get my hands on, be it from ancient times to turn of the century. If I recognize historical truths interlaced within...so much the better. Most of these authors have been mentioned in this thread allready...

It's nice being married to a librarian

bhtr

Check out Lord Kalvin of Other World and Cabu.

Check out Neal Stephenson. Cryptonomicon is a great stand alone book and the Baroque series for fans of historical fiction.

At one time I was a very prolific reader of sci-fi and the one of the most memorable series I've ever read was Hyperion by Dan Simmons. I haven't the last two novels but the first two were outstanding.

Here's an exert from Wikipedia ...

Of the four novels, Hyperion received the Hugo and Locus Awards in 1990;[6] The Fall of Hyperion won the Locus and British Science Fiction Association Awards in 1991;[7] and The Rise of Endymion received the Locus Award in 1998.[8] All four novels were also nominated for various science fiction awards.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperion_Cantos

Another vote for James Clavell's Asian series. I am reading Gai Jin now and I have Whirlwind yet to read. Shogun, Tai Pan and Noble house are my favorites.
Big fan of L'Amour.

big fan of Cussler's Dirk Pitt character, but my favorite series is Jack Whytes Camulod series, if you like King Arthur without the majic and dragons pick him up....series starts with Arthurs great grandfather and great uncle i believe staying behind when the Romeans pulled out of England and follows the story for several generations.....read the whole 8 book series in 3 months, once i started i couldnt stop....

i recognize a whole lot of those books from my shelves....and see some i havent gotten my hands on yet....

I really enjoyed all of the following series at one point. No particular order.

John Sandford's "Prey" series (including the virgil flowers offshoot as well as the Night Crew)

Lee Child's "Reacher" books

Brad Thor's series w/ Scott Harvath

Vince Flynn's series w/ Mitch Rapp

Stephen Hunter series w/ Swagger(s)
( I think these got me back into reading fiction after a very long time away. I ate them up.)

I also liked the "Dragon Tattoo" series.

More recently I thought the first book of the Hunger Games Series was good. the 1st book was fun because it was different and a neat premise. By the 3rd book it got downright horrible though.

Great thread. A quick scan of a few pages and I have a reading list for 2 years!


I'm going to go for some Africa/hunting themes next. (Been on the CIA/FBI/rogue ex-cop kick for a while and I am told my tin-foil hat collection is getting a bit excessive.)

I gobbled that guy's stuff up as a kid!

At this point I am sure everyone has read everything from M Crichton, but if not, he is definitely an exception to the above. He's a huge name in the buis, and imo deserves every bit of it.

The supernatural stuff in the Game of Thrones books is a very, very small part of those stories. (The series is actually called "A Song of Fire and Ice". "Game of Thrones" is merely the first book.) The vast majority of what makes those books so good has nothing to do with any S&S fantasy elements. It's just great story telling with fantastic characters written on a decidedly more realistic and adult level than anything else in this genre. Ninety percent of those books are just about various powerful families and the brutal and very violent struggle over who will rule the land.

The character of Tyrion Lannister (a midget member of the powerful Lannister family) is one of the best characters ever created in any series of books. He is also played superbly by Peter Dinklage on the television adaptation. Click below for an example.


Now that was a threat

Well stated Todd, and I agree completely about Game of Thrones.

I just started Clash of Kings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Game_of_Thrones

Thanks, I don't get HBO but have heard from others that Game of Thrones was a very good series. Will have to go out and rent the first season on DVD.



But not tonight, a new episode of the Walking Dead is on.

I totally forgot to mention the Mitch Rapp novels, by Vince Flynn.

Just about everybody here would like those. Apologies if somebody's already mentioned them.

a lot of L'Amour's books were set in arizona, in country i grew up in with family back into the 1800's here. I read his books, then went to the country he was describing. He told it pretty good.

hillerman would be understandable good to you given where you live, you understand them and can relate to them, unlike the yankees.

i read all of heinlein's stuff probably 50 years ago, and lazarus was probably instrumental in the way i think today.

and i thought i was the only one that enjoyed the claval books which i have on the shelf behind me.

that movie was hardcore tommy lee jones and also hollywood. Having said that it wasn't far off the mark in describing parts of the southwest, it is a place not condusive for old men, unless they are smart old fahrts.

that would tell someone quite a lot

what is interesting to me, is how similar a lot of us, at least to reading interests, are on the campfire. I have read just about everything mentioned. Some a lot more than once, DUNE being one of them.

yes, he was really writing i think about people he knew, real people, to some extent.
I could see it coming through his writing.
My ol man use to run cattle way back when in some of the territory he was writing about. Some of the ol timers, in their 80's at the time, which was the late 50's, told me a lot of tales about early arizona.

The Matt Helm series by Donald Hamilton. Hamilton's westerns are also worth reading.

Robert Crais' detective novels.

George Chesbro's Mongo detective series was nicely described as a cross between Stephen King and Raymond Chandler. Si-fi goings-on but very well written.

Raymond Chandler's detective novels featuring Phillip Marlow.

Last and probably best is the fantasy-China detective series by Barry Hughart. I envy anyone reading Bridge of Birds for the first time.

I don't get the opportunity to read a lot, but I really liked Robert Ludlum. My favorites are the Jason Bourne books. The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, and The Bourne Ultimatum. Did not like the movies . I wish they would have wrote the movie scripts to follow the books.
Also when I was younger I read a book one time called "Raise the Titanic". Don't remember who wrote it, but it held my attention.

Yep Confederacy Of Dunces

Great and very funny novel

have to re read it

The Bob Skinner series by Quitin Jardine. Good epic about the Constabulary. Well written.

The TV series on HBO is downright excellent. I would imagine the book(s) are even better, which means they�ll be scorching reads. I�m typically not so much into the whole sword & sorcery thing, but this story is just so well written and compelling that you�re just hooked easily. There�s a dwarf (not in the Lord of the Rings sort of way, but as in real world dwarfism) in this story who�s one shrewd character and just fun to see what he�s going to come up with next. Then there�s the �Mother of Dragons� whom everyone is just watching to see what she does. Very good character development.

Others mentioning Historical Fiction got me thinking about Jeff Shaara. Ive read his fathers book "The Killer Angels" and his two Civil War books. I went looking and now see that he has a WWII series. Im going to have to check them out.

After reading the response to that I went out and rented the first couple of DVD's of the first season of Game of Thrones.

Though it's set in a mythical land it doesn't include nearly the magic I thought, at least not in the first four episodes. I like it so far.

Some of the characters are compelling but some are looking like the typical one dimensional people you'll see on any evening soap opera. You can tell right away who is a good guy and who is a bad guy. The bad guys - the Queen and her brother in particular, are all bad. The King is basically good but is a softened whoremonger. The good guy Eddard Stark is all noble and good, a mighty warrior, stern disciplinarian and devoted husband and father. Real people are complex, characters should reflect that. Like the governor on Walking Dead - a cold blooded megalomaniac who is (was) devoted to his daughter. Rick - a leader trying to take care of his people who can love his wife so much he still sees her after she's dead, but who can also kill in cold blood without blinking an eye.

The dwarf Tyrion is the best character so far - a well read, highly intelligent and acerbic hedonist who can watch his own back but still have a soft spot for other "broken" people.


One ominous portent - the video store only had disks 1 and 2 on the shelf, I'm hoping someone is renting the other 3. I'm going to be really PO'ed if they've been stolen and the store doesn't have them available!

LOL! Just wait. I won't give anything away but many characters are not what they seem. Some have very genuine changes of heart. And the good are not always so good. Oh, and absolutely no character, NO CHARACTER, is safe from death. Four episodes in you are just scratching the surface of the good stuff.



He is indeed. The guy who plays him won an Emmy for best actor in a dramatic series. Trust me you have seen nothing yet with regards to his character. Better and better as you go.

Glad to hear it, I figured four episodes might not be enough so wanted to give it a decent chance. Now I'm gonna be really disappointed if the store doesn't have the next three disks!

#1 - Vince Flynn
#2 - Stephen Hunter
#3 - Jack Reacher series

If a triology counts as a series, The Lord of the Rings . For "semi-fiction", the James Herriot books.